Believing and belonging in Europe 1981-2007: Comparisons of longitudinal trends and determinants
Publication year
2014Number of pages
22 p.
Source
Journal of Empirical Theology, 27, 1, (2014), pp. 154-175ISSN
Publication type
Article / Letter to editor
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Organization
SW OZ RSCR SOC
Leerstoel Empirische en praktische religiewetenschap
Journal title
Journal of Empirical Theology
Volume
vol. 27
Issue
iss. 1
Languages used
English (eng)
Page start
p. 154
Page end
p. 175
Subject
Center for Religion and Contemporary Society (CRCS); Inequality, cohesion and modernization; Ongelijkheid, cohesie en moderniseringAbstract
This paper investigates (trends and determinants of) individual combinations of religious believing and belonging in Europe from a cross-national and longitudinal perspective. Individual level data for the period 1981-2007 in 42 countries derived from the European Values Survey and the European Social Survey are harmonised and enriched with contextual characteristics, constituting a more comprehensive data base for Europe than any previous research. Complementary hypotheses from modernization and market theories are derived systematically and tested rigorously.We find differential trends. In western societies, the popularity of secularity and consistent religiosity has persisted. In former communist societies, the popularity of consistent religiosity has increased whereas secularity has decreased. In both western and former communist societies, solitary religiosity has been a clear yet small phenomenon, somewhat increasing in western societies and somewhat decreasing in former communist societies. A crucial hypothesis derived from modernization theories, stating that financial and social security would decrease consistent religiosity, is empirically supported.
This item appears in the following Collection(s)
- Academic publications [238441]
- Electronic publications [122510]
- Faculty of Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies [11426]
- Faculty of Social Sciences [29483]
- Open Access publications [97506]
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